Washington Commanders defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio certainly made plenty of headlines last week with his comments regarding what he voiced as a double standard in how the American media (generally speaking) has covered the January 6 disturbing events and the peaceful protests in many U.S. cities during the summer of 2020.
Yes, Del Rio was certainly wrong to have spoken of the events of January 6 as a mere “dust-up.” Though the vast majority of those present did not enter the Capitol, and did not unlawfully trespass or destroy any federal property, there were those who did, and they should certainly be prosecuted. It was no mere “dust-up.”
Senate Majority Leader Richard L Saslaw (D-Fairfax) cited Del Rio’s misguided description (“dust-up”) as one of the reasons Virginia was going to reject the Commanders’ stadium. This despite the “fact” it was already a conclusion the Legislature was rejecting the stadium proposal.
NAACP President Derrick Johnson certainly wanted more than a censure of Del Rio. He wanted Del Rio immediately fired.
Commanders head coach Ron Rivera then determined Del Rio needed to be not only rebuked privately but also fined $100,000. Rivera then released his statement.
— Washington Commanders (@Commanders) June 10, 2022
When a fan had tweeted earlier just last week blaming Del Rio for the poor defensive performance in the 2021 season, Del Rio had responded to the tweet saying, “bite deez.” Clearly, there is no mistaking that to which Del Rio was directing the Commanders’ fan. Rivera should have fined Del Rio then.
Yet interestingly, Coach Rivera in his remarks says nothing of Del Rio’s clearly inappropriate comments to the paying customers of the Commanders.
Stunningly, upset with Del Rio for minimizing January 6 to “a dust-up,” Coach Rivera in his own statement, minimized the riots of 2020 as “peaceful protests which are a hallmark of our democracy.”
There were months of domestic terrorism in U.S. cities where multiple people were killed, hundreds of small businesses were destroyed and many Federal Buildings were damaged. Both sides were absolutely in the wrong. There is more than enough guilt to go around on both Republicans and Democrats.
The irony is puzzling; perhaps both Del Rio and Rivera came up short last week?